Philippine Congress Approves Ambitious Defence Procurement Budget

The Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernisation programme budget for 2013 approved by both houses of the Philippine Congress on 22 September includes funding for a wide-ranging list of items, including 50 new aircraft.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino described the procurement plan as "the largest and most comprehensive upgrade programme [in the history of] the AFP and a needed one for its largely mid-20th century Korean and Vietnam War-era systems".

Stressing that it would provide Manila with a "deterrent force with an effective but minimal defence capability", Aquino also cautioned that the procurements would be spread over a five-year period. "It won't come overnight," he said on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Vladivostok.

Among the major items to be procured are 12 KAI T/A-50 lead-in fighter trainer/light-attack aircraft, 6 Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucanos, 6 light lift transport aircraft, 25 transport and 12 attack helicopters, 4 search-and-rescue and 4 anti-submarine multirole naval helicopters, and 3 special-mission long-range helicopters.

TA-50 to revive PAF's 'fast mover' capability

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) will regenerate its "fast mover" capability once the decision to acquire South Korea's TA-50 "Golden Eagle" becomes final. 

The ability refers to the capacity to intercept aircraft intruding or encroaching over the country's airspace. Fernando Manalo, DND undersecretary for finance, munitions, installation, and materiel, said that the TA-50 offers the PAF the best means to reacquire such capability. 
"It may be small and not that fast, but under the hands of a well-trained and capable pilot, this plane can prove itself a much for much faster and bigger aircraft," he said. 
The PAF lost its interception capability in 2005 when it formally retired the last 10 F-5 "Tiger" jet fighters in its inventory due to airframe aging and lack of spare parts. 
The T-50 "Golden Eagle" design is largely derived from the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and they have many similarities: use of a single engine, speed, size, cost, and the range of weapons. 
Korea Aerospace Industries, the designer of the TA-50, developed the the aircraft from the US F-16 "Falcon". 

Philippines DND Officially Recommends T-50

Purchase of Korean Jets Recommended

The Department of National Defense (DND) has recommended to President Aquino the purchase of South Korean-made jet fighters to boost the country’s external defense capability.

Fernando Manalo, DND undersecretary for finance, munitions, installations and materiel, said the assessment conducted revealed that it is South Korea’s T50s which is ideal for the country’s Philippine Air Force.

“Based on our assessment it is the T50 of South Korea that is most advantageous to us in consideration to the obtaining situation in the West Philippine Sea,” said Manalo.

Aside from capability, the T50s are also ideal in terms of the country’s limited budget for Air Force modernization, he said.

If the contract is signed with South Korea before the end of 2012, Manalo said the fighter jets could be delivered to the country within two years from 2013.

What would happen if the contract is signed, according to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, is that they would request for immediate delivery of two of the T50s to facilitate the training of Air Force pilots.

“We will negotiate so we can get the two immediately for training so that when the rest of the 10 arrives, our pilots are already trained,” said Gazmin.

The Philippines may buy Russian trainer aircraft

The Philippines is studying the possibility of buying abroad, including Russia, a lot of twelve military training aircraft in the program to modernize its army, reported Wednesday the national news agency ANP.

"The modernization program of our armed forces has now reached its full extent", said the Philippine Minister of Defense Voltaire Gazmin.

Manila has to choose between Russian aircraft including Yak-130, the South Korean T-50, M-346 Italians and the British Hawk. The final decision must be made by the end of July.

Philippine officials are having second thoughts about buying second-hand F-16 Fighting Falcons from the United States

Although about 25 air forces around the world have F-16 jet fighters as the backbone of their defenses, Philippine officials are having second thoughts about buying second-hand F-16 Fighting Falcons from the United States because of their  huge maintenance cost not to mention the short remaining flying hours before they become obsolete.
“Excess defense materials are not economical,” said PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Okol after Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia said the US was prepared to sell the Philippines two supersonic F-16 jetfighters but cautioned of the jets’ high maintenance cost.
“By the time our pilots shall have finished training how to operate the F-16, there life span shall have lapsed,” Okol said. “The advice of the US security officials was right for the Philippines not to get a second-hand F-16.”
The F-16 is a multirole jet fighter aircraft developed originally by General Dynamics and later by Lockheed. It was designed as a superior jet interceptor that can fly in all kinds of weather conditions.
The Fighting Falcon saw extension action during the Gulf War against Iraq with great success and at least 25 countries have F-16 in their Air Force because of the jet’s versatility.
In fact, the PAF has been craving to have F-16 aircraft to replace the retired F-5 fighters which were decommissioned in 2005, leaving the Air Force without a single jetfighter.
As a consequence, Philippine airspace is devoid of air defense the past seven years and intrusions by foreign aircraft have remained unchecked.
Okol said that “a brand F-16 costs US$60 million without the weapons and training.”
He said the weapons such as air-to-air missiles are very expensive but buying these weapons will have the nod of the US government or any foreign government that sells defense materials.
The Philippines badly needs modern fighter aircraft to protect its sovereignty from foreign intrusion like what is happening at the Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal.
The Department of National Defense has been scouting for the purchase of supersonic jetfighter interceptors for the Philippines. Aside from the F-16, the government will also look for other sources of fighter jets that are comparable to the Fighting Falcon but at a lesser price.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the upgrade and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is in full swing.
Gazmin said the defense department is working speedily on the approval of contracts for the upgrade and modernization of 138 projects to be implemented over the next five years. The deadline for the approval of these contracts is on July 31.

Newest assets. The Philippines took delivery of four of these Polish Sokol helicopters earlier this year.

“These projects would surely provide the Philippine Air Force with brand new and reliable assets for its operations, along with the operational requirements of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Army,” Gazmin said.

Philippines Looking at South Africa as Option for Attack Helicopters

  

A spokesman for the Philippines Air Force (PAF) has been quoted as identifying South Africa as one of the countries that are under consideration to supply his service with new attack helicopters. South Africa is one of the few countries to have developed a dedicated attack helicopter, the Denel Rooivalk (Kestrel, in English).


The PAF is seeking 10 attack helicopters as part of a major modernisation programme. The other countries listed as possible suppliers by Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Okol were Italy, France, Russia and the UK. US helicopters have been ruled out as they are too expensive for the country.


Confusingly, PAF commander Lieutenant General Lauro Catalino de la Cruz was reported to have said that Italian helicopters would be ordered. These would presumably be AgustaWestland AW129 Mongoose attack helicopters.


However, Okol spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP) after De la Cruz made his comment, suggesting that the general was expressing his personal opinion or spoke ambiguously and had been misunderstood. Whatever the case may be, the acquisition of the new helicopters has been approved and the order should be placed before the end of this year.


The PAF seems to use the term attack helicopter to refer to any armed helicopter and not just dedicated attack designs. This would explain the inclusion of the UK on the list – Britain does not have a dedicated attack helicopter design but the army version of the AgustaWestland Lynx can (and has been) be armed with guns and missiles.


Likewise, the PAF refers to its current force of MD Helicopters MG 520 light armed helicopters as attack helicopters. “What we are going to get are armed attack helicopters ... that can carry more payload than the MG 520,” Okol told AFP. The PAF is also upgrading its MG 520s.


The Denel Rooivalk is not currently in production, but the company could restart manufacture if it received a suitable order. The company has been redelivering Rooivalks upgraded to operational standard to the South African Air Force, a process that should be concluded next month.

Asian Defence News

Philippine eyes 4 countries to supply 12 attack aircraft

                                                 KAI TA-50 “Golden Eagle” of South Korea

                                            The Alenia AermacchiAgusta M-346 Master of Italy

                                                                Russia   Yak-130

                                                  BAE Hawk of the United Kingdom.

The government is eyeing four foreign companies from as many countries to provide it with 12 new surface attack aircraft to start the Air Force’s long-delayed modernization program.
Those are the KAI TA-50 “Golden Eagle” of South Korea, the Alenia Aermacchi Agusta M-346 Master of Italy, the Yak-130 of Russia, and the BAE Hawk of the United Kingdom.
The Air Forces says it needs to immediately procure surface attack aircraft as those will serve as lead-in attack planes and as trainer aircraft for prospective jet fighter pilots.
The Air Force was left with no jet fighters after it decommissioned the F-5A/B interceptors in 2005 because they were obsolete and their parts were no longer available in the international market. The Navy is in the same dilemma as many of its ships are of World War II vintage.
The Air Force and the Navy failed to intercept 26 foreign ships that intruded into Philippine territory during the first quarter this year. They have also failed to break their standoff with China at the Scarborough Shoal, where scores of Chinese fishing vessels were found to have been poaching since April this year.
                 

Italy Also Offers Attack Helicopter to Philippines

  Philippines Air Force to Get 10 More Attack Helicopters

BEFORE the end of the year, the Philippines would have 10 new attack helicopters, and the go-ahead has also been given for the purchase of 12 surface attack aircraft/lead-in fighter-trainer (SAA/LIFT) to form part of the P75-billion modernization program of the Armed Forces.

This was revealed by the Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino  de la Cruz, who flew in from Europe through the Middle East on Monday afternoon, after participating in the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom (UK).

“I was able to take a firsthand look at some of the industry participants, talk to some of them and would now report to senior leaders in the Armed Forces the best options available for the country,” he said during a brief interview at the airport.

De la Cruz said the four contenders for the jetfighter are Italy, Korea, Russia and the UK.

The purchase of the attack helicopters has been approved and these would be provided by Italy.

“I was in Italy to look at some of the attack helicopters that were offered and hopefully, we will have them by the end of the year,” he added.

He said the Philippines preferred the Italian models because they are cheaper compared to those made by Americans, which are top of the line and are very expensive.

Philippines may ask for U.S. spy planes over South China Sea

The Philippines may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea to help monitor the disputed waters, President Benigno Aquino told Reuters on Monday, a move that could worsen tensions with its giant neighbor China.
The two countries only recently stepped back from a months-long standoff at the Scarborough Shoal, a horseshoe shaped reef near the Philippines in waters they both claim – the latest round of naval brinkmanship over the resource-rich sea.
The United States has stressed it is neutral in the long-running maritime dispute, despite offering to help boost the Philippines’ decrepit military forces. China has warned that “external forces” should not get involved.
“We might be requesting overflights on that,” Aquino told Reuters in an interview, referring to U.S. P3C Orion spy planes. “We don’t have aircraft with those capabilities.”
There was no immediate comment from Washington.
Last month, Aquino pulled out a lightly armed coast guard ship and a fisheries boat due to bad weather around the Scarborough Shoal, a group of rock formations about 140 miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon.
The South China Sea is potentially the biggest military flashpoint in Asia, and tensions have risen since the United States adopted a policy last year to reinforce its influence in the region.
At stake is control over what are believed to be significant reserves of oil and gas. Estimates for proven and undiscovered oil reserves in the entire sea range from 28 billion to as high as 213 billion barrels of oil, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a March 2008 report.
China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia have competing claims on the sea, but China’s claims encompass almost all its waters.
China said last week it had begun “combat-ready” patrols in waters it said were under its control in the South China Sea, after saying it “vehemently opposed” a Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands.
“We hope the Philippines will no longer issue information that provokes public opinion and avoid complicating the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters on Monday, responding to the Philippine military’s assertion that it could return to the Scarborough Shoal at any time.

Philippine Air Force to Get New Warplanes by 2014

 

Five Type Warplanes were Expected to be Delivered within Two Years 

 Five type aircraft : attack aircraft, lead-in fighter-trainers, attack helicopters, light transport and medium transport aircraft were all expected to be delivered within two years

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Philippines, which is now embroiled in a territorial dispute with China, is set to acquire new warplanes in two years to upgrade its poorly-equipped air force, the defence minister said Friday.

Attack aircraft, lead-in fighter-trainers, attack helicopters and light and medium transport aircraft were all expected to be delivered within two years, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

Speaking at the 65th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, Gazmin said "these aircraft shall once and for all, erase the ironic and naughty commentary that our present airforce is all air, devoid of force."

The defence department also plans to sign contracts by July 31 to implement 138 military modernisation projects over the next five years, he added, without saying how much the contracts would cost or who would supply such equipment.

The Philippines has one of the most poorly-equipped militaries in the region, having retired the last of its fighter jets in 2005.

The weakness of the military was highlighted when the Philippines got into a standoff with China in April over the Scarborough Shoal, an outcropping of rocks in the South China Sea that both countries claim as their territory.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of neighbouring countries. The Philippines says the shoal is well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

The two countries also have wider territorial disputes over parts of the Spratly islands in the South China Sea .

Gazmin did not mention the territorial dispute but stressed that air force personnel were all over the archipelago, including the West Philippine Sea-- the local term for the South China Sea.

The Philippines has looked to its main defence ally, the United States, to help it upgrade its armed forces but President Benigno Aquino said in an interview in May, that it was looking for aircraft from outside the US as well.